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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 

AGRICULTURAL 

COLLEGE 

NO.__S_0_S4 DATE.10.r-L§_?S. 

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TUBERCULOSIS  IN  CATTLE. 


LECTURE   BY 

DR.  FRANK   S.  BILLINGS,  V.  S., 

OF  BOSTON. 


READ  AT  THE   COUNTRY  MEETING  OF   THE  MASSACHUSETTS 

STATE   BOARD   OP  AGRICULTURE   AT   FRAMINGHAM, 

DECEMBER,  1885. 


BOSTON : 

WRIGHT   &   POTTER  PRINTING   CO.,    STATE   PRINTERS, 

18  Post  Office  Square. 

188G. 


TUBERCULOSIS  IN   CATTLE. 


BY  DR.  FRANK   S.  BILLINGS,  V.  S.,  OF  BOSTON. 


Those  diseases  which  we  have  constantly  with  us,  and 
which  we  have  come  to  consider  inevitable  evils,  pass  with 
but  casual  notice  ;  but  if  a  pest  threatens  us,  or  a  locality  is 
suddenly  attacked  by  some  disease,  then  the  whole  popula- 
tion is  alarmed,  and  readj'^  to  sustain  reasonable  and  unrea- 
sonable action. 

We  cringe  before  the  small-pox  or  cholera,  because  they 
strike  us  suddenly  and  quickly ;  but  neither  of  them,  or 
both  of  them  together,  can,  at  the  present  day,  cause  the 
desolation  created  by  pulmonary  consumption  in  any  term 
of  years,  —  the  world's  death  rate  from  this  cause  alone 
beino;  from  ohe-seventh  to  two-sevenths  of  all  deaths. 

Tuberculosis  of  cattle  is  the  full  and  inbred  sister  of  the 
disease  in  man ;  and,  as  will  be  shown,  can  also  be  con- 
sidered as  one  cause  of  the  disease  in  man 

Hence,  above  all  our  animal  diseases,  there  is,  in  reality, 
no  one  which  should  so  earnestly  appeal  to  our  intelligence 
for  preventive  and  restrictive  legislation  as  this. 

It  is  singular  that  it  is  also  about  the  only  disease  of  cattle 
that  is  transmissible  to  our  own  species  through  the  food  we 
eat.  It,  again,  is  of  especial  instructive  value  to  all  hygienists 
and  legislators,  and  above  all  to  breeders,  in  that  veterina- 
rians have  collected  the  very  strongest  evidence  of  the  value 
of  heredity  and  contagium  with  reference  to  bovine  tuber- 
culosis,—  evidence  that  is  equally  applicable  to  man. 

The  long  continued  efforts  of  the  investigating  pathologists 
of  the  world  have  conclusively  shown  that  there  is  but  one 


disease  that  should  be  known  as  tuberculosis  ;  that  it  is  one 
and  the  same  disease  wherever  found  in  the  animal  kingdom  ; 
that  it  is  a  contao-ious  infectious  disease,  findino-  its  original 
habitation  in  the  human  and  bovine  species,  but  is  transmis- 
sible to  every  form  of  warm-blooded  life  ;  and,  finally,  that 
its  cause  is  one  peculiar  specific  bacillus,  discovered  by 
Robert  Koch  of  Germany,  and  that  this  bacillus  has  a 
peculiar  reaction  to  specific  methods  of  coloring  that  is 
not  possessed  by  any  other  bacteria  that  occur  in  the  animal 
organism  under  the  same  conditions.  Hence  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  mere  presence  of  a  small  nodular  body  in  an  organ, 
even  in  great  numbers,  that  correspond  in  every  outward 
characteristic  to  a  tubercle,  by  no  means  constitutes  what 
we  now  term  tuberculosis. 

The  other  varieties  are  classed  as  "  Pseudo-Tuberculosis," 
and  occur  in  almost  every  variety  of  animal  life.  In  sheep 
it  is  due  to  a  peculiar  thread  worm,  "  Strongylus  filaria," 
and  in  calves  to  another,  —  S.  micrurus.  In  both  cases  the 
animals  afi'ected  perish  of  what  is  technically  termed 
"  marasmus," — a  form  of  consumption  ;  but  while  the  chief 
lesions  of  disease  are  also  in  the  lungs,  we  do  not  find  any  of 
the  broken-down  conditions  and  formation  of  cavities  that 
occur  in  the  same  organ  in  human  consumption. 

Bovine  tuberculosis  ofiers  us  even  more  direct,  or  at 
least  more  accurately  collected,  evidence  of  the  influence  of 
heredity  and  contagium  than  has  as  yet  been  collected  by 
medical  practitioners. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  same  cause  is  asserted 
to  exist  in  this  as  in  human  tuberculosis;  hence,  from  this 
point  of  view,  both  diseases  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  unit. 

While  the  bovine  disease  has  been  known  to  veterinarians 
as  well  as  to  breeders  for  a  long  time,  it  did  not  attract  any 
great  attention  from  hygienists  or  investigators  into  the 
cause  of  disease,  until  it  began  to  dawn  upon  their  minds 
that  tuberculosis  was  an  infectious  disease.  This  interest 
was  greatly  augumented  when  it  was  proven  that  the  milk 
of  cows  having  tuberculosis  could  cause  the  same  disease  in 
young  animals.  With  the  discovery  of  the  specific  bacilli 
in  the  lymph  cells,  and  still  more  recently  in  the  circulating 
blood,   and    with   the   positive    evidence    of  its    contagious 


character,  it  can  be  safelj  asserted,  that,  aside  from  its 
importance  from  an  economical  standpoint  to  the  cattle 
interests  of  the  country,  from  those  of  public  health  there  is 
no  disease  of  our  animals  the  importance  of  which  bears  any 
comparison  with  bovine  tuberculosis,  not  excepting  trichinae 
in  swine. 

As  the  points  which  I  desire  to  place  emphasis  upon  are 
solely  those  of  the  relation  of  bovine  tuberculosis  to  the 
welfare  of  the  State  from  an  economical  and  hygienic  point 
of  view,  I  can  well  be  pardoned  from  leaving  out  of  con- 
sideration any  discussion  of  its  symptomatology  at  present, 
particularly  as  most  cattle  men  are,  practically,  quite  well 
acquainted  with  it. 

The  Extension   of  Tuberculosis  in  American   Cattle. 

In  the  following  remarks  it  must  not  be  understood  that 
I  am  entering  upon  a  causeless  polemic  against  our  public 
authorities.  I  regret  to  say  that  we  have  had,  and  still  have, 
a  very  great  and  dangerous  evil  among  our  cattle,  which  has 
been  utterly  neglected. 

One  of  the  first  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  is  to  protect 
the  public  by  suitable  hygienic  laws,  and  to  this  end,  a  code 
of  veterinary  police  laws  and  a  well  organized  veterinary 
police  force  is  one  of  the  first  necessities ;  then  neither  cattle 
owners  nor  the  public  have  any  right  to  blame  those  appointed 
by  the  Executive  to  represent  their  interests  as  best  they  can. 

With  neither  laws,  men  or  means  at  their  command, 
suitable  to  the  purpose,  it  is  but  natural  that  the  best  inten- 
tions can  only  be  followed  by  very  unsatisfactory  results. 

That  State  which  first  makes  an  intelligent  move  in  this 
direction,  and  thus  demonstrates  what  can  be  done,  will 
confer  a  blessing  upon  the  whole  Union.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  Massachusetts  will  be  that  State,  and  hence  be  true  to 
her  reputation  of  always  watching  carefully  over  the  welfare 
of  her  citizens. 

Personally,  I  know  nothing  about  the  extent  of  tubercu- 
losis among  American  cattle,  yet,  as  already  said,  I  venture 
the  assertion,  that  the  annual  losses  caused  by  it  far  exceed 
Ihose  of  all  other  bovine  diseases  put  together. 

From  the   general  tone  of  conversation  among  veterina- 


6 

rians  and  breeders,  it  would  seem  as  if  it  prevailed  more  in 
Jerseys  and  other  thoroughbred  cattle,  than  in  the  mixed 
breeds  ;  but  in  Germany  it  seems  to  be  limited  to  no  partic- 
ular breed. 

What  we  desire  to  know,  and  what  the  State  should  tell 
us,  is : 

1.  To  what  extent  does  tuberculosis  prevail  in  our  cattle, 
and  the  exact  proportion  in  each  State  ? 

2.  Is  there  any  evidence  that  climatic,  telluric,  geographo- 
topographic  conditions  exert  the  same  influences  on  bovine 
tuberculosis  that  they  do  on  human  ? 

(The  same  is  true  of  food,  stabling,  care,  etc.) 

3.  Does  any  particular  pure  breed  seem  to  have  a  nat- 
ural predisposition  to  it,  and  if  so,  which? 

4.  Does  grading  or  out-crossing  tend  to  lessen  this 
tendency  ? 

5.  What  is  its  proportion  between  pure  breeds  and  so- 
called  natives? 

6.  What  evidence  have  we  of  its  extension  by  the  cohabi- 
tation of  a  tuberculous  animal  among  healthy  ones  in  the 
same  stable,  —  contagium? 

7.  What  are  the  evidences  which  point  to  predisposing 
influences  exerted  by  heredity  ? 

8.  Are  such  tendencies  transmitted  more  by  the  bull 
than  the  cow,  or  vice  versa ^ 

9.  What  evidence  can  be  gained  from  practical  experi- 
ences that  the  milk  from  tuberculous  cows  can  cause  the 
disease  in  calves  from  healthy  mothers,  or  young  pigs,  if 
fed  upon  it? 

10.  What  amount  of  milk  is  sold  in  the  State  from 
diseased  or  tuberculous  cows  ? 

11.  What  is  the  annual  loss  to  the  cattle  interests  of  the 
State  from  tuberculosis  ? 

The  only  evidence  that  I  can  give  of  American  origin  is 
from  a  Dr.  Crundall,  V.  S.,  of  New  York  State. 

In  the  "Journal  of  Comparative  Medicine,"  vol.  V.,  p. 
330,  he  says  :  '<  The  disease  most  prevalent  among  cattle  in 
this  district  is  tuberculosis.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  fully  30  per  cent,  of  the  grade  cattle  in  the  counties  of 
Seneca  and  Ontario  are  aflfected  with  tuberculosis.     In  pure- 


breeds  the  percentage  used  to  be  even  greater,  but  on 
account  of  the  losses  breeders  suffered  from  it,  the  herds 
that  used  to  be  kept  here  have  been  broken  up,  so  I  cannot 
tell  much  about  it  now." 

I  have  made  every  endeavor  to  gain  information  upon 
this  point,  and  have  written  to  veterinarians  who  knew  of 
the  loss  of  whole  herds  from  this  cause,  and  the  breeders 
who  suffered  the  loss,  but  my  inquiries  have  been  utterly 
ignored. 

In  Germany  the  disease  has  finally  become  a  recognized 
evil,  though  no  State  but  Bavaria  has,  as  yet,  attempted  to 
gain  any  exact  statistics  as  to  its  true  extent  among  cattle. 

The  following  statistics  are,  however,  instructive  in  several 
ways. 

The  first  attempt  made  in  Bavaria  was  in  1877,  and  the 
percentage  of  tuberculosis  in  each  thousand  cattle  examined 
was  reported  as  1.62.     Of  these, — 

64  were  1  year  old  or  under,     .  .  1.31  per  cent. 

528  were  1  year  old  to  3  years  old,  .  10.81  per  cent. 

1,846  were  3  years  to  6  years  old,  .  37.80  per  cent. 

2,445  were  over  6  years  old,           .  .  50.07  per  cent. 

For  the  yesir  1877  to  1878  the  percentage  was  1.54  to  the 
1,000  head. 

From  Jan.  1,  to  Dec.  31,  1874,  there  were  slaughtered  at 
Augsburg,  Germany,  11,311  cattle  of  all  descriptions;  of 
these  1.18  per  cent,  were  tuberculous. 

In  1876  there  were  killed,  13,241  cattle  and  25,909  calves  : 
250  tuberculous 

Of  231  oxen  and  5,290  calves  inspected  at  Munich,  before 
the  building  of  the  city  abattoirs,  235  were  tuberculous. 

Again,  at  Augsburg,  1^<83,  there  were  killed,  11,829: 
tuberculous,  3.12  per  cent. 

I  wish,  however,  to  call  your  urgent  attention  to  the  fol- 
lowing facts  taken  from  the  1st  Annual  Report  of  the 
Municipal  Abattoir  at  Berlin,  Germany. 

This  institution  is  a  model  of  its  kind.  It  is  under  the 
supervision  of  a  chief  veterinary  inspector,  assisted  by  10 
chief  sub-veterinary  inspectors,  an  inspectors'  recorder,  and 
4  branders  ;    a   supervising  microscopic  expert ;  4  division 


8 


veterinarians ;  87  sub-inspectors  for  trichina}  and  micro- 
scopic examinations  of  suspicious  flesh  ;  30  persons  engaged 
in  collecting  specimens  of  pork  from  swine,  to  be  examined 
for  trichinee. 

The  institution  has  fine  offices,  residences,  etc.,  for  the 
officials  ;  a  bacteriological  laboratory,  and  one  for  the  micro- 
scopical examinations,  fitted  up  with  every  necessary  appli- 
ance. The  sheds  and  grounds  are  something,  for  neatness 
and  substantiality,  of  which  no  American  can  form  any  con- 
ception whatever. 

Whole  number  of  animals  slaughtered  for  the  year  1884  : 


Cattle, 
Calves, 
Sheep, 
Swine, 


93,837 

78,220 

171,077 

244,343 


Number  of  butchers  slaughtei;ing  at  the  abattoir,  567. 

Not  an  animal  can  be  slaughtered  out  of  it,  except  horses, 
for  which  there  is  another  and  especial  abattoir,  where  there 
is  also  the  same  rigid  veterinary  inspection. 

Number  of  animals  of  which  the  whole  carcass  was  con- 
demned :  — 


On  account  of  tuberculosis, 

182  cattle 

"  hog  cholera. 

72  swine 

"   icterus,     . 

38     " 

"  dropsy, 

18     " 

"  general  bad  flesh. 

9     " 

"  being  poorly  bled. 

3     " 

"  ecchinococci, 

1—1 

"  measles,   . 

1,621  hogs. 

"  trichinge. 

216     " 

"  lime  deposits  in  flesh, 

19     " 

''  actinomycosis, 

15     " 

Single  organs  were  condemned  as  follows 


From  cattle, 
'•'■  calves, 
"  sheep, 
^'     swine. 


21,229 

816 

4,806 

7,401 


Tuberculosis  was  found  in  single  animals,  the  whole  car- 
cass of  which  was  not  condemned  :  — 

Cattle, 2,613  times. 

Calves, 2      " 

Swine, 1,313      " 

One  has  but  to  consider  the  lessons  which  such  an  organ^ 
ized  and  circumspect  inspection  teaches,  and  to  compare  it 
with  what  is  done  in  this  country,  in  order  to  see  how 
lamentably  our  governments  are  false  to  their  public  duties. 

From  it  we  should  learn  : 

1.  That  we  have,  in  reality,  no  meat  inspection  in  the 
United  States. 

2.  That  we  do  not  really  know  what  diseases  affect  our 
animals,  or  to  what  extent  they  bear  relation  to  the  health 
of  the  consumer. 

Heredity  comes  under  what  physicians  call  the  internal 
causes  of  disease,  while  contagium  is  known  as  the  sufficient 
or  exciting  cause. 

The  first  is  much  the  more  important,  for  without  it  the 
second  cannot  act. 

Under  internal  causes  we  include  all  those  conditions 
which  are  brought  about  in  the  animal  organism  through 
occupation,  feeding,  housing  or  surroundings,  or  by  disease 
itself,  which  produce  organic  weaknesses  predisposing  the 
individual  to  disease  in  any  form. 

Hereditary  weaknesses  are  here  included. 

We  have  also  what  is  termed  a  natural  predisposition  on 
the  part  of  certain  species, — such  as,  in  the  equine,  for 
glanders  ;  in  the  canine,  to  rabies  ;  in  the  bovine,  to  rinder- 
pest and  the  lung  plague  ;  and  in  men,  to  measles,  scarlet 
fever,  etc.  The  real  nature  of  such  special  disposing  condi- 
tions is  entirely  beyond  our  knowledge. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  parents  themselves  are  actually  diseased  during 
their  lifetime.  They  may  only  possess  a  constitutional 
weakness,  but  they  may  transmit  it  to  their  progeny  ;  and  if 
both  parents  possess  it,  the  tendency  is  very  likely  to  be  very 
much  increased  in  the  young. 


10 

With  reference  to  tuberculosis  it  may  be  said,  that  every- 
thing which  tends  to  produce  an  irritable  condition  of  the 
respiratory  tracts  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  exerting  a  causal 
effect  in  producing  that  disease.  As  I  shall  show,  the  real 
or  exciting  cause  of  this  disease  is  a  bacillus  discovered  by 
Robert  Koch  in  1883,  which  bears  his  name;  yet  it  can  be 
asserted  that  where  these  internal  weaknesses  do  not  exist, 
the  bacilli  do  not  find  the  conditions  necessary  to  their  exist- 
ence under  ordinary  circumstances.  But  this  always  ex- 
cludes the  possibility  of  a  healthy  individual  becoming  dis- 
eased through  long  continued  exposure  to  contagium  from 
living  in  the  same  stable  with  a  diseased  one. 

The  biological  study  of  any  form  of  disease-producing 
bacteria  demonstrates  that  if  the  cultivating  media —  internal 
conditions  —  are  not  suitably  composed  chemically,  if  they 
have  not  the  right  degree  of  moisture,  if  the  temperature  is 
not  conformable,  the  bacteria  cannot  live  or  thrive. 

A  vigorous  and  healthy  pair  of  lungs  does  not  offer  these 
conditions  ;  weak  ones  do,  or  may  upon  very  slight  invita- 
tion. In  Europe,  the  governments  forbid  the  use,  for  breed- 
ing purposes,  of  animals  having  constitutional  weaknesses. 
American  breeders  are  slowly  learning  that  they  must 
apply  similar  principles  if  they  would  avoid  disastrous 
consequences.  The  fact  that  heredity  plays  a  very  impor- 
tant role  in  tuberculosis  has  long  been  recognized  for  our 
own  species. 

Louis  concluded  that  it  was  an  essential  cause  in  one-tenth 
of  all  the  cases  he  had  seen  ;  Lehert  in  one-sixth  ;  and ,  when 
scrofulosis  was  taken  into  account,  in  three-fifths.  The 
same  is  true  of  nearly  every  author  that  has  given  the  subject 
consideration. 

Johne  has  demonstrated,  for  the  first  time,  the  presence 
of  the  specific  bacteria  in  the  noduli  in  the  lungs  of  a  calf  that 
was  aborted  at  the  eighth  month  of  pregnancy. 

Adam  says  :  "  That,  although  tuberculosis  seldom  develops 
in  the  foetus,  it  has  been  sufficiently  proven  that  a  tuberculous 
cow  can  transmit  the  tendency  to  this  disease  to  its  off- 
spring." 

Busch — 1880 —  demonstrated  the  lunsfs  of  a  sucking  calf 


11 

that  were  full  of  tubercles.  In  1878,  one  such  was  found 
at  Augsburg;  1880-'85,  five  such  were  found  at  Niirnburg. 

Semraer  notices  five  cases  of  pulmonary  tuberculosis  in  the 
fietus  (calves).  They  were  all  aborted,  —  one  at  three 
months,  another  at  six,  another  at  eight ;  while  the  others 
had  just  been  dropped.  He  says  :  "  These  cases  prove  to  me 
that  tuberculosis  can  develop  in  the  fcetus  during  pregnancy." 

Jessen  found  the  lungs  of  a  three  months  old  aborted  calf 
full  of  tubercles.  As  the  tubercle  bacilli  have  been  found 
in  the  calf  foetus,  and  in  the  blood  of  phthisical  human  beings, 
it  is  now  left  for  us  to  demonstrate  them  in  the  blood  of  the 
mother,  and  in  the  tissues  (or  blood)  of  the  foetus  at  the 
time  the  latter  has  been  aborted. 

This  evidence  is  sufficient  to  show  to  you  that  the  disease 
itself,  as  well  as  constitutional  weakness,  can  be  transmitted 
from  parents  to  oflspring. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  real  or  exciting  cause  of 
tuberculosis,  —  that  is,  that  it  is  a  contagious  disease. 

The  fact  that  tuberculosis  could  be  transmitted  to  animals 
by  means  of  inoculating  them  with  material  derived  from 
persons  that  have  died  of  pulmonary  consumption,  is  much 
older  than  the  fact  that  the  disease  is  contagious,  — that  is, 
can  be  transmitted  from  one  living  individual  to  another,  by 
more  or  less  intimate  social  relations, — or  that  it  can  in 
reality  be  transmitted  from  parents  to  ofi'spring,  especially 
by  the  mother  during  the  period  of  pregnancy. 

It  is  not  in  accordance  with  my  present  purpose  to  detail 
the  historical  development  of  the  experiments  by  which 
these  ideas  finally  gained  credence,  but  rather  to  limit 
myself  to  those  given  by  studies  upon  bovine  tuberculosis, 
which  are  of  more  especial  interest  here.  I  have  by  no 
means  collected  all  the  observations  that  have  been  recorded, 
but  rather  selected  a  few  that  are  very  much  to  the  point  it 
is  desired  to  emphasize.  While  considering  these  evidences 
as  to  the  especial  principle  which  acts  as  an  exciting  cause 
in  constituting  tuberculosis  a  contagious  disease,  you  must 
never  lose  sisrht  of  the  fact  that  the  internal  conditions 
which  make  infection  possible  are  of  still  more  importance, 
not  only  in  this  but  all  such  disease. 

Medicine  has  its  fashions,  and  the  present  mode  is  to  hunt 


12 

for  bacteria  alone,  and  to  lose  sight  of  the  very  lessons 
which  this  hunt  teaches ;  viz.,  that  the  internal  or  prepara- 
tory conditions  are  far  more  essential  to  the  completion  of 
the  disease  than  its  actual  or  exciting;  cause. 

The  honor  of  being  the  first  to  prove,  by  direct  experiment, 
that  the  fluids  of  the  living  organisms,  or  butter  secretions, 
contained  some  unknown  principle  capable  of  inducing 
tuberculosis  in  healthy  young  animals,  when  fed  upon  it, 
belongs  to  a  member  of  the  veterinary  profession,  —  Pro- 
fessor Grerlach,  the  late  Director  of  the  Veterinary  School  at 
Berlin,  Prussia.  If  we  are  to  judge  by  the  value  of  work 
done  to  humanity  in  general,  Gerlach  was  certainly  the 
greatest  veterinarian  that  has  ever  lived,  for  no  one  obser- 
vation ever  made  by  mortal  man  is  more  significant  or 
terrible  in  its  teachings  than  that  the  milk  of  cows  diseased 
with  tuberculosis  can  produce  the  same  disease  in  young 
animals,  when  fed  upon  it. 

Gerlach  says  :  "  Having  a  cow  afflicted  with  tuberculosis, 
it  was  resolved  to  test  the  question,  whether  the  milk  from 
such  a  cow  is  capable  of  producing  a  similar  disease  in 
young  fed  upon  it." 

The  results  of  these  experiments  upon  quite  a  number  of 
young  animals  were ,  partially  successful  and  in  part  unsuc- 
cessful, but  they  were  sufficient  to  show  the  dangerous 
character  of  such  milk  as  food  for  human  beings,  especially 
babes. 

Albert  reports  a  case  of  practical  observation,  in  which  a 
farmer's  wife  fed  a  litter  of  pigs  with  milk  from  a  tuberculous 
cow  that  was  so  bad  she  did  not  dare  use  it.  The  pigs  died 
of  tuberculosis  as  revealed  by  autopsies. 

Bang,  however,  gives  the  most  conclusive  proof  of  the 
infectiousness  of  the  milk  from  tuberculous  cows,  and  shows 
why  such  experiments  have  occasionally  failed.  In  every 
one  of  his  cases  the  tuberculous  processes  had  extended  to 
the  udder,  —  tubercular  inflammation  of  the  udder,  —  and 
in  every  one  of  them  he  was  able  to  demonstrate  the 
presence  of  the  specific  bacilli  in  the  milk,  before  it  was  fed 
to  healthy  calves  from  healthy  parents.  Every  calf  fed  upon 
it  died  of  tuberculosis. 

Johne  has  shown  that  it  is  always  possible  to  differentiate 


13 

between  simple  inflammation  of  the  mammary  gland,  or 
garget,  and  the  tuberculous  form,  by  the  microscopic  exami- 
nation of  the  milk  after  treating  the  same  according  to  the 
prescribed  methods  for  coloring  tuberculosis  bacilli. 

I  can  confirm  this  testimony,  having  never  failed  in  a 
single  case,  though  I  have  not  seen  the  cows. 

Nocard  —  Alfort,  France  —  found  the  specific  bacilli  in 
the  milk  of  eleven  cows  with  tubercular  mammitis. 

Johne  reports  322  feeding  experiments  made  with  all 
sorts  of  tuberculous  material.  Results:  43.5  per  cent, 
positive,  51.1  per  cont.  negative.  These  experiments  were 
divided  as  follows  :  — 

117  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  material  from  diseased  calves :  -61 
per  cent,  positive,  34  per  cent,  negative. 

46  animals  fed  with  cooked  meat  from  a  tuberculous  cow:  13.3  per 
cent,  positive,  86.9  per  cent,  negative. 

91  animals  fed  with  milk  from  tuberculous  cows :  30.7  per  cent,  posi- 
tive, 59.3  per  cent,  negative. 

1  animal  fed  with  milk  from  a  tuberculous  rabbit:  100.0  per  cent, 
positive. 

26  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  material  from  man :  36.0  per  cent, 
positive,  64.0  per  cent,  negative. 

53  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  material  from  hogs :  53.0  per  cent, 
positive,  47.0  per  cent,  negative. 

2  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  matei'ial  from  rabbits :  50.0  per  cent, 
positive,  50.0  per  cent,  negative. 

2  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  material  i'rom  monkeys :  100.0  per 
cent,  positive. 

5  animals  fed  with  tuberculous  matei'ial  from  hens :  100.0  per  cent, 
positive. 

Toussaint,  Chouveau,  Colin  and  others,  all  bear  testimony 
that  the  continuous  feeding  of  milk  from  a  tuberculous  cow 
to  swine  will  cause  the  disease. 

I  have  fed  three  hens  with  sputum  from  a  man  with  tuber- 
culous phthisis  ;  one  is  already  dead  ;  cause,  tuberculosis. 

A  rabbit  that  received  two  drops  of  the  same  under  the 
skin,  mixed  with  one  hundred  drops  of  freshly  distilled 
water,  died  in  six  weeks,  of  tuberculosis. 

Johne  reports  that  a  flock  of  ten  hens,  which  were  daily 
fed  upon  the  crusts  and  leavings  from  meals  of  a  man  with 


14 

tubercular  consumption,  died,  one  after  another,  of  tuber- 
culosis . 

Zschokki  relates  of  a  cat  that  constantly  accompanied  and 
slept  on  the  bed  with  a  consumptive  old  maid,  that  died  of 
tuberculosis. 

German  veterinarians  have  recorded  many  cases  of  tuber- 
culosis extending  over  the  cattle  in  a  stable,  from  one  or 
more  diseased  animals  being  among  them,  a  few  of  which 
I  will  quote. 

Albrecht  tells  of  a  farm  on  which  were  kept  fourteen 
milch  cows,  a  bull,  and  four  young  animals.  Vacancies 
were  always  filled  by  new  animals. 

The  latter  were  under  his  observation  for  three  years, 
during  which  time  tuberculosis  was  always  present.  He 
traced  its  orio-in  to  two  old  cows  that  had  been  there  the 
whole  time.     New  ones  were  healthy  when  bought. 

He  gives  another  case,  where  nineteen  animals  died  of  tu- 
berculosis in  a  period  of  ten  years.  The  disease  was  traced 
to  a  calf  that  camo  from  a  tuberculous  cow.  It  was  in  the 
stable  from  1«64  to  1869,  but  did  not  thrive.  In  1869  it  was 
killed  and  found  tuberculous.  In  the  same  year  the  other 
cattle  began  to  cough,  and  the  disease  gradually  extended 
over  all  of  them. 

Putscher  reports  as  follows  :  — 

"  Three  large  stabtes  offered  most  favorable  conditions  for 
studying  the  question  as  to  the  extension  of  tuberculosis  per 
contagium.  In  two  of  the,m  the  animals  were  kept  for  dairy 
purposes,  as  well  as  fattened  for  the  market. 

"  In  the  others  only  steers  for  the  latter  purpose  were  kept. 
Fifty-four  head  were  in  this  stable  during  three  years.  It  is 
singular  that  this  place  should  offer  the  most  positive  evidence  as 
to  the  contagiousness  of  tuberculosis. 

"In  this  stable  were  two  oxen  that  had  been  purchased  some 
eighteen  months  before  the  disease  appeared.  He  examined  them 
some  time  after  purchase,  and  pronounced  them  tuberculous.  As 
the  two  oxen  did  not  fatten  and  become  marketable,  they  were 
killed,  and  found  to  be  decidedly  tuberculous.  As  the  other  ani- 
mals were  sold,  some  fat,  some  not,  every  one  was  found  to  be 
tuberculous  when  slaughtered. 

"New  animals  were  bought  to  fill  their  places;   their  history 


15 

and  condition  being  subjected  to  a  rigid  examination  before 
purchase. 

"  They  were'  forcedly  fed  and  soon  fattened.  One  was  very  tu- 
berculous in  all  organs ;  five  had  tubercles  in  the  lungs ;  nine 
others  were  somewhat  affected,  and  but  five  were  found  free  from 
the  disease. 

"In  the  other  two  stables,  thirteen  animals  were  found  to  be 
tuberculous  when  killed." 

Ollivier  reports  a  very  instructive  experience  in  children 
that  were  from  perfectly  healthy  parents,  but  lived  and  slept 
in  a  room  with  others,  at  an  asylum,  that  were  consumptive. 
The  children  acquired  the  disease  and  died.  This  testimony 
is  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  mind,  — 

1.  That  constitutional  weaknesses  may  be  acquired,  pre- 
disposing such  individuals  to  tuberculosis. 

2.  That  this  tendency,  as  well  as  the  disease  itself,  can 
be  transmitted  from  parents  to  offspring. 

3.  That  the  milk  or  flesh  from  tuberculous  animals  can 
cause  tuberculosis  in  other  animals  or  persons,  particularly 
babes,  when  fed  upon  it  for  a  length  of  time. 

4.  That  tuberculosis  can  be  transmitted  to  healthy  ani- 
mals or  persons,  by  their  continually  breathing  air  polluted 
by  others  having  the  disease. 

These  are  the  facts  of  observation  and  experiment.  The 
real  contagious  principle  is  a  bacillus  discovered  by  Robert 
Koch  in  the  sputum  and  tissues  of  persons  dying  of  consump- 
tion, and  in  the  tissues  of  animals,  especially  cattle.  Pie 
isolated  these  bacteria,  and  cultivated  them,  in  a  pure  form 
and  artificial  manner,  entirely  independent  of  the  animal 
organism. 

He  carried  these  cultivations  through  many  succeeding 
generations,  and  then  inoculated  animals  with  them  and 
produced  tuberculosis  in  them.  He  then  again  cultivated 
them  from  the  tissues  of  these  animals,  and  again  produced 
tuberculosis  in  other  animals,  as  well  as  by  feeding  still 
others  with  diseased  portions  from  the  first. 

The  description  of  these  bacteria  and  how  to  discover 
them  is  decidedly  a  technical  question  and  can  well  be 
passed  over  here. 


16 


Prevention. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  most  im- 
portant topic  in  connection  with  all  disease. 

If,  in  the  following,  I  may  make  some  remarks  which 
appear  to  reflect  upon  the  honor  of  our  State,  or  upon  indi- 
viduals, I  beg  you  to  remember  that  I  am  not  combating 
men,  but  evil  principles,  and  am  but  endeavoring  to  fulfil 
the  purpose  of  my  life,  to  be  a  useful  citizen  of  our  country 
to  the  fullest  extent  my  abilities  will  allow.  In  selecting 
bovine  tuberculosis  for  a  subject  I  had  two  purposes  in 
view  :  — 

First.  To  show  you  how  much  more  important  it  is, 
beyond  any  other  animal  disease,  to  you  as  farmers  and 
producers. 

Second.  That  it  shows,  better  than  any  other  disease 
can,  the  true  demands  which  the  public  have  a  right  to 
make  upon  the  veterinary  profession. 

I  wish  first  to  assert :  That  in  the  light  of  modern  sci- 
ence,—  in  the  light  of  what  some  European  governments  are 
doing,  —  neither  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or 
that  of  any  single  State  in  this  Union,  not  excepting  our  own 
Massachusetts,  are  doing  an  iota  to  intelligently  protect  its 
people,  or  its  vast  animal  interests,  from  disease. 

Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  Massachusetts.  We  have 
now,  and  have  had,  a  "  Cattle  Commission." 

What  is  that?  A  commission  composed  of  two  civilians, 
who,  while  they  may  know  a  great  deal  about  the  breeds 
and  prices  of  all  kinds  of  animals,  know  absolutely  nothing 
about  disease. 

Then  we  have  a  Veterinarian  upon  it,  who  is  only  allowed 
five  dollars  a  day  and  travelling  expenses  when  actually  em- 
ployed. Gentlemen,  I  tell  you  boldly,  that  such  pay  as 
that,  to  a  man 'of  education,  is  a  disgrace  to  the  State  which 
offers  it,  and  an  insult  to  the  veterinary  profession  ! 

It  may  be  enough  for  men  who  never  received  a  technical 
education ;  men  who  may  know  a  little  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary butcher ;  but  it  is  not  the  proper  remuneration  for  a 
man  of  ability  who  gives  his  time,  or  neglects  his  practice. 


IT 

for  the  public  good,  no  matter  how  much  public  spirit  he 
may  have. 

The  day  of  pole-axe  commissions  is  over.  In  times  of 
dire  necessity  they  may  be  valuable  to  stamp  out  a  sudden 
outbreak  of  disease  ;  but  to  prevent  disease,  to  study  into 
its  nature,  even  the  money  spent  on  or  by  such  a  commis- 
sion, in  ordinary  times,  is  worse  than  wasted. 

Many  of  the  Western  States  are  appointing  State  Veteri- 
narians at  a  salary  of  $2,500  per  year. 

Massachusetts  must  do  as  well.  Yes,  gentlemen;  as  I 
shall  show  you  that,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  a  $2,500 
man  is  not  good  enough.  We  must  have  a  man  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  disease  in  man  as  well  as  animals ;  one 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  methods  of  research  into 
the  causes  of  disease,  and  instructed  in  the  methods  of  vet- 
erinary education  all  over  the  world,  so  that  he  may  be  able 
to  tell  which  of  them  have  produced  the  best  results,  and  be 
able  to  show  how  they  can  be  improved  upon  in  our  own 
country ;  one  intimately  acquainted  with  the  veterinary 
police  laws  and  organizations  of  the  world,  so  that  he  may 
finally  give  you  the  best.  And  lastly,  and  above  all,  gentle- 
men, we  must  have  a  man  that  knows  all  that  has  been 
done,  and  is  capable  of  exploring  still  deeper  into  the  rela- 
tion of  animal  diseases  to  our  own  health  and  that  of  our 
wives  and  children. 

A  "Cattle  Commission"  is  not  competent  for  such  a 
work.  Weigh  your  "Cattle  Commission"  here  in  Massa- 
chusetts or  any  other  State  ;  your  Boards  of  Health  in  this 
country ;  your  Agricultural  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  — 
in  the  balance  against  these  possibilities  which  I  tell  you 
you  have  a  right  to  demand  of  us  veterinarians,  and  which  I 
assert  we  veterinarians  can  and  will  yet  fulfil  for  you,  as 
well  as  the  best  of  your  medical  men,  if  you  will  but  give 
us  a  chance. 

The  graduated  men  of  your  State  are  a  united  body ; 
every  honest  man  among  them  is  more  in  earnest  in  being 
anxious  to  serve  the  State  in  preventing  disease  than  in 
increasing  his  practice.  If  Massachusetts  or  the  United 
States  cannot  produce  the  man  to  start  this  work,  then  go 


18 

to  Germany  and  select  the  best  man  in  their  veterinary 
police  organization. 

The  indications  of  the  real  work  of  the  veterinary  profes- 
sion, as  a  part  of  the  public  service  of  the  State,  that  I  have 
given  above,  should  show  you  that  a  "  Cattle  Commission" 
is  not  only  a  misnomer,  but,  as  its  name  indicates,  in  no 
sense  of  the  word  suitable  to  your  purposes. 

While  we  do  not  want  in  the  State  a  Bureau  of  Animal 
Industry,  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington  has 
started  in  the  right  direction  by  the  employment  of  one 
veterinarian  as  the  chief  of  its  service. 

Further  than  that  the  "Bureau"  need  not  be  copied. 
We  can  do  better,  and  show  them  how  work  should  be  done, 
if  you  earnestly  desire  it. 

In  order  to  prevent  disease  in  general,  or  even  any  given 
disease,  it  is  necessary  that  we  enter  into  the  most  minute 
study  of  every  single  thing  that  can  possibly  have  the  most 
remote  connection  with  its  genesis.  ^ 

This  purpose  can  be  only  expressed  by  the  word  research, 
—  observational,  statistical  and  experimental.  To  carry  out 
this  threefold  purpose,  it  is  necessary  that  some  one 
authority,  representing  the  accumulated  intelligence  of  the 
people  on  the  subject  of  public  health  and  contagious  animal 
diseases,  should  be  selected  by  the  State. 

This  authority  should  be  the  State  Board  of  Health  on  the 
first  part,  and  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  on  the  second. 
The  true  work  of  the  first,  or  even  the  second,  with  regard 
to  the  prevention  of  disease  in  either  man  or  animals,  has 
scarcely  dawned  upon  the  minds  of  our  people.  Such 
boards  are  too  often  looked  upon  as  honorary  retreats  in 
which  to  shelve  useful,  or  useless,  politicians. 

The  only  qualification  which  should  make  any  man  a 
candidate  for  such  a  position  must  be  fitness  for  the  work. 

Boards  of  health  should  be  composed  of  an  eminent  jurist, 
the  ablest  hygienic  special  engineer  obtainable,  a  competent 
chemist,  a  specialist  on  public  health  as  a  medical  man,  and 
the  best  qualified  veterinarian  to  be  obtained  in  matters  of 
public  health  and  contagious  animal  diseases. 

The  latter  should  be  known  as  the  State  Veterinarian,  and 
should  also  be  connected  with  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 


19 

which  should  constitute  all  the  "  Commission"  necessary  for 
the  control  of  all  questions  in  connection  with  animal  dis- 
eases in  the  State. 

As  their  duties  require  an  expensive  and  special  educa- 
tion, those  of  whom  the  State  demands  all  their  time  and 
energy  should  receive  $5,000  per  year. 

The  Governor  should  be  chairman  of  each  board.  It  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  he  be  intimately  acquainted  with 
their  workings,  wants  and  necessities,  in  order  that  he  may 
intelligently  recommend  legislation. 

The  legislature  should  be  more  liberal  to  these  branches 
of  the  public  service  than  to  any  other  department  of  gov- 
ernment. 

"  Public  health  is  public  wealth."  "  Millions  for  defence, 
but  not  a  cent  for  tribute."  Yet  we  contribute  compara- 
tively nothing  to  save  thousands  of  human  lives  and  millions 
of  dollars  in  animal  property  from  the  ravages  of  preventable 
diseases. 

There  is  not  a  laboratory  in  the  United  States,  fitted  up  as 
it  should  be,  and  liberally  supplied  with  funds,  under  the 
control  of  competent  experts,  where  researches  are  being 
made  into  the  nature  and  cause  of  disease,  or  means  of  pre- 
vention sought  for.  There  is  not  a  medical  school,  far  less 
a  veterinary  institute,  in  this  country,  where  our  youths  can 
get  that  technical  and  fundamental  education  through  which 
alone  they  can  become  useful  to  the  State  in  those  profes- 
sional duties  which  come  under  the  head  of  State  Medicine. 

Yet,  had  we  such  laboratories,  —  and  each  State  board  of 
health  must  have  one,  —  it  is  possible  to  discover  a  vaccine 
virus,  in  a  pure  form,  that  can  be  cultivated  and  dispensed 
in  unlimited  quantities,  without  having  recourse  to  animals 
that  may  have  the  germs  of  tubercles  in  their  blood ;  it  is 
possible  to  produce  a  practical  virus  against  the  lung  plague 
of  cattle  (which  can  be  dispensed  free  of  cost  and  be 
perfectly  harmless),  that  has  cost  us  so  many  millions  and 
is  likely  to  cost  the  country  untold  millions  more ;  it  is 
possible  in  this  way  to  reduce  the  losses  from  hog  cholera  to 
a  minimum.  It  has  been  begun  in  France,  and  we  have  men 
that  can  complete  it  here,  if  the  State  will  only  be  true  to  its 
responsibilities  to  the  people. 


20 

All  these  things  are  possible,  and  many  more,  of  a  kindred 
nature,  probable.  Scarcely  a  dollar  is  devoted  to  it,  how- 
ever. The  State  should  be  districted  oflf  into  Public  Health 
and  Veterinary  Police  sections, — a  county  should  form 
such,  —  each  of  which  should  have  its  chief  medical  and 
veterinary  sanitary  official,  and  the  necessary  number  of 
sub-district  officials  from  each  profession. 

All  these  men  should  be  selected  by  the  officials  of  the 
two  boards  mentioned,  displayed  competency  being  their 
only  necessary  qualification. 

The  two  boards  should  alone  constitute  the  examining  and 
appointing  bodies.  Local  authorities  in  cities,  towns  or 
districts,  should  be  appointed  by  the  respective  boards  and 
be  subject  to  them,  and  not  by,  or  to,  the  local  governments. 

All  laws  for  these  services  must  be  especially  drafted, 
according  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  each  disease  to  be  com- 
bated. They  must  be  State,  not  local,  laws  or  regulations, 
so  that  their  execution  may  be  uniform  all  over  the  State 
and  incompetency  and  confliction  avoided.  Each  local 
health  or  veterinary  official  should  be  paid  for  his  services 
from  the  State  funds.  Local  authorities,  or  communities, 
should  hold  the  State  boards  responsible  for  the  proper 
execution  of  these  laws. 

The  practice  of  human  and  veterinary  medicine  must  be 
so  regulated  by  the  State,  that  the  honest  graduate  may  be 
protected  in  the  exclusive  right  to  the  use  of  his  honorably 
won  title,  and  the  people  given  a  means  by  which  they 
can  distinguish  such  men  from  the  non-graduated  man  or 
charlatan. 

The  right  of  selection  as  to  whom  they  may  employ 
should  be  left  free  to  the  people.  Malfeasance  in  practice 
should  be  regulated  by  the  State,  and  the  further  right  to 
practice  in  the  State  prohibited  to  the  perpetrator  thereof, 
whether  a  regular  or  irregular  practitioner  in  either  branch 
of  medicine. 

All  diseases  should  be  scheduled,  and  all  practitioners  — 
medical,  veterinary  and  irregular  —  should  be  obliged  to 
notify  the  proper  local  medical  or  veterinary  official  of  any 
and  every  suspicious  case  of  disease,  of  either  an  infectious 


21 

or  contagious  character,  that  was  so  ordained,  under  penalty 
of  the  law. 

Statistics  should  be  gathered,  not  only  as  to  the  number 
of  deaths  and  their  causes,  but  also  as  to  the  number  of 
diseased  persons,  or  animals  diseased  in  any  way ;  but 
especially  as  to  everything  having  any  causal  connection 
therewith,  even  in  the  remotest  degree. 

This  is  especially  true  of  infectious  and  contagious 
diseases,  the  least  in  importance  of  which  is  certainly  not 
tuberculosis,  whether  in  man  or  animals.  Boards  of  Health 
and  Boards  of  Agriculture  should  endeavor  to  educate  the 
people  in  the  principles  of  preventive  medicine,  as  appli- 
cable to  themselves  or  their  animals,  by  the  employment  of 
competent  lecturers  from  the  medical  and  veterinary  pro- 
fessions. The  people  would  certainly  meet  them  halfway 
in  this  regard.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  guarantee  to 
its  people  that  the  animal  products  which  they  use  as  food 
are  free,  not  only  from  disease  itself,  but  all  disease-pro- 
ducing elements,  as  well  as  their  water  supply. 

Our  milk  inspection  is  a  semi-farce.  If  the  cows  are 
tuberculous  or  otherwise  diseased,  if  they  are  improperly 
housed  or  fed,  what  a  humbug  it  is  to  watch  the  stream 
from  its  fountain  head  to  the  consumer,  and  leave  the  spring 
itself — the  cows  —  entirely  out  of  consideration. 

The  State  should  know  the  exact  hygienic  condition  of 
every  animal  in  it.  By  this  means  alone  can  we  know  how 
much  our  annual  losses  from  such  causes  amount  to,  or  to 
what  extent  contagious  or  infectious  diseases  prevail.  We 
cannot  know  what  we  must  seek  to  prevent,  until  we  know 
what  exists,  how  it  comes  to  pass,  and  how  it  gets  spread 
about. 

The  fact  that  the  bacilli  of  tuberculosis  have  been  found 
in  the  blood  indicates  that  they  must  also  be  in  the  flesh ; 
hence,  no  part  of  such  animals,  or  derivatives  from  them, 
should  be  sold  for  human  food. 

Yet  thousands  of  them  are,  and  hundreds  of  quarts  of 
milk  from  diseased  cows  are  dispensed  over  our  cities  daily, 
especially  to  the  poorer  classes,  or  ignorantly  consumed  by 
the  people  themselves. 

We  should   know   the    exact  condition   of  every  anima 


22 

slausfhtered  for  human  food,  both  before  and  after  death; 
we  should  know  the  condition  of  each  organ ;  and,  as  shown 
by  the  Berlin  abattoir,  an  exact  statistic  should  be  kept  of 
the  results  of  such  examinations. 

The  State  should  compel  the  erection  of  public  abattoirs 
in  every  city  and  town,  and  for  every  so  many  thousand 
inhabitants  in  country  districts.  They  should  never  be  the 
property  of,  or  run  in  the  interests  of,  joint-stock  corpora- 
tions, as  at  Boston.  All  animals  destined  for  human  con- 
sumption should  be  slaughtered  therein,  whether  for  the 
owners'  use  or  not.  These  abattoirs  should  be  under  the 
immediate  supervision  of  a  chief  veterinary  inspector  and 
the  necessary  number  of  veterinary  sub-inspectors.  These 
should  be  appointed  by  the  State  Board  of  Health  but  paid 
by  the  local  authorities. 

No  animal  fairs  or  markets  should  be  held,  unless  under 
the  supervision  of  a  State  veterinary  official.  This  inspec- 
tion should  extend  to  the  animals  of  all  persons  attending 
such  gatherings. 

I  have  endeavored  to  place  fairly  before  you  our  true 
condition  ;  to  show  you  what  you  have  a  right  to  demand 
of  the  veterinary  profession,  and,  above  all,  to  indicate  to 
you  the  only  method  by  which  success  can  be  attained. 

You,  as  citizens  of  the  State,  as  the  persons  who  have 
really  the  greatest  interest  in  these  matters,  have  the  future 
in  your  hands. 


